The invention relates to the field of building construction materials. More particularly, the invention relates to the field of construction components used in the construction of walls, ceilings and other planar, angled and curved surfaces for buildings.
Humans have utilized bricks and other hard surfaces as construction components for buildings for thousands of years. The earliest sun-dried bricks were made in Ancient Egypt. Later, bricks were dried using a fuel source. The Book of Genesis records that burnt brick was used in the construction of the Tower of Babel. Thus, from ancient times to the present, brick has remained a popular building material.
The enduring presence of brick is due in no small part to its stellar properties as an exterior surface. Bricks are capable of resisting high summer heat, as well as, cold winters and changes there between. In addition to such thermal properties, brick provides a strong outer shell to a building. Brick resists wind, rain, snow, dust and other detrimental environmental elements. Brick can be a fire retardant surface for buildings. Bricks can be manufactured in a myriad of sizes, textures and colors. Further, though it need not be painted, when brick is painted, the paint adheres well to the brick.
However, despite such positive characteristics, brick has a few drawbacks, mostly related to installation. For instance, whereas other exterior surfaces maybe relatively easily applied to an existing building structure, brick is much more difficult to install on an existing building as an alternate siding choice during a renovation. Further, the laying of brick during the construction of a building is a labor-intensive operation. Each brick must be mortared and laid, one on another, brick-by-brick, by a skilled brick mason. As manual labor prices rise in a given market, so do the costs associated with using brick as a building material. It is also difficult or impossible to install brick during the winter because mortar does not cure well or at all in freezing temperatures.
Thus, there exists a need for a building product that has the same or better building characteristics and aesthetic appeal as traditional brick but also can be applied without the need for an extensive skilled labor team of brick masons. Further, there exists a need for a building product that has the same or better building characteristics and aesthetic appeal as traditional brick that may be used as a retrofit product for providing a siding to an existing building structure. Further, as energy costs and environmental consciousness increase, so does the demand for better insulation. Thus, there is also a need for building materials offering improved insulation of a building's envelope.
Thermal insulation is an ever expanding field. Various forms of insulation have been used including fiberglass, cellulous, and various foams among others. Recently there has been much research into the field of phase change materials which are referred to as “PCMs”. PCMs are generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,641,812 which is directed to a Thermal Insulation with Thin Phase Change Layer.